The weather was fine, and just after lunch, there was a group of troublesome people in front of Zhang Wen's house, and the person concerned said that they had come to find their daughter Li Chuniang. Zhang Wen did have such a cook in the house, but she was killed by Xuan Yue last night.

Zhang asked someone to call Xuanyue. After a while, Xuanyue came to the front yard and shouted in front of Zhang Wen. Xuan Yue's height is half a head taller than that of ordinary women, wearing a black tight-fitting military uniform, although the weather in early spring is still cold and she wears very thick clothes, but it still can't hide her bumpy figure.

"How did the cook's family find here?" Zhang asked.

Xuan Yue said: "When the house bought Chef Li, her subordinates checked her details, her parents died, she had no brothers and sisters, and she was sold into a green building since she was a child and worked in the kitchen. I never heard of any relatives in her, let alone her parents. ”

"Oh." Zhang Wen lowered his head in contemplation and paced back and forth a few steps. At this time, Xuan Yue said again: "Do you want your subordinates to drive away those troublemakers?" ”

"Wait." Zhang Wen raised his head, "Those people behind the scenes haven't got my real evidence, it's not a big deal, don't be nervous." I guess that Donglin must be deliberately looking for trouble, creating public opinion, and blocking people...... Yin Ni Wenhuan of Shuntian Mansion used to be a member of the Zhejiang Party, and now Donglin has been in power for almost half a year, and he is still sitting on the chair of Shuntian Mansion, I am afraid that he voted for Wei Zhongxian. You send someone to Ying Tianfu with my post, inform him, and ask him to sign a team of soap servants, and torture the person who claims to be Chef Li's parents at the door. ”

"Yes, host."

After Zhang Wen dealt with this matter, he turned around and walked into the hall, and asked someone to call Cao An over. Those who are making trouble outside, although it doesn't matter, Zhang Wen has already smelled the signal to impeach himself. The way of playing people in the court has not changed for decades, it is nothing more than finding a reason, letting the petty officials take the lead in impeaching the officials, first deducting the basin that is not clear, and then pulling it to other things.

Zhang Wen's contact with Liu Chao and his refusal to woo Zuo Guangdou have already made Donglin understand that Zhang Wen is bent on following the eunuchs, so Donglin began to prepare for suppression as soon as possible?

Thinking of this, Zhang Wen couldn't help but go to Wei Zhongxian's mansion, so he hurriedly asked Cao An to arrange the carriage and horses.

A team of people escorted Zhang Wen's sedan chair out of the alley and headed east. Dongchang Hutong is just outside Dong'anmen, and the yamen of Dongchang and Jinyiwei are located on this street. Wei Zhongxian's residence is at the mouth of Dongchang Hutong, near Cuihua Hutong. This courtyard was newly built, and it seems that it cost at least tens of thousands of taels of silver, and there is still room for expansion. It can be seen that Wei Zhongxian has accepted many bribes since Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, and he became fat in less than a year.

If it is those fat ministers, the relationship is too deep, it is not easy for the emperor to slaughter, and if he is not careful, he will shake the rule; But a eunuch like Wei Zhongxian, if he didn't have the emperor's favor, he would be nothing, and it would be easier to slaughter.

The gatehouse in front of the Wei Mansion is extraordinary, supported by four large pillars, and there are two stone lions at the door. Zhang Wen asked someone to hand over the post, and after a while, the door opened, and a big man with five big and three thick men came out. I saw that the big man's face was wide, rosacea, his face was full of red bumps, and his face was red as if he had just been drunk.

The big man looks rough, but the etiquette is also decent, and he warmly greets him when he meets. The rosacea said a few words and said, "My master went to the palace to wait for the emperor in the morning, and it was time to come back for lunch, but I have to wait for a while." When the emperor was busy, he often forgot to sleep and eat, and sometimes he didn't take care of lunch. The slave is the housekeeper of the Wei Mansion, Lord Wei, please Duoduo Haihan for the faux pas, Lord Zhang, please inside. ”

Zhang Wen gave Cao An a look, Cao An understood, and was ready to find an opportunity to touch this Wei Zhongxian's housekeeper. Zhang Wen immediately smiled and said, "Then it's bothering." There's a box of things in the back, so let's bring it into the house first. ”

Wei Jue glanced at the box, which was carried by two people, and it looked very heavy. If it is yellow goods, this income today is very considerable.

Wei Jue then said: "Then bring it in first and put it for Lord Zhang, please." "Wei Jue knew about Zhang Wen, and I heard Wei Zhongxian say that Zhang Wen would come over. In this case, there is nothing to excuse, whatever you give, you will laugh at it.

Zhang Wen was invited to the front yard to sit down in the living room, drank tea for a while, and sure enough, Wei Zhongxian came back, and the housekeeper was very accurate about Wei Zhongxian's whereabouts. Wei Zhongxian stepped in from the door, and Wei Jue, who was with him, hurriedly bent down and gave him a handful of the hem of his robe.

"The emperor got up early in the morning and played puppet shows, and it was not easy to get out of the fun." Wei Zhongxian was out of breath when he came in, sat down on the chair, picked up the teacup, threw the lid of the cup on the table, and poured the tea violently.

Zhang Wen had already stood up and said, "Xiaguan pays a visit to Gonggong Wei." ”

Wei Zhongxian heard Zhang ask him to call him "Father-in-law Wei", he was a little unhappy, and his heart was still twisted and pinched, others don't call our grandfather and father, at least they have to be called a thousand years old. However, Wei Zhongxian heard the housekeeper say that Zhang Wen sent a box of gold, so he didn't want to care about Zhang Wen's title, so he smiled, pointed to the chair and said, "Sit, sit down and talk." ”

Zhang Wen didn't sit down, but took out a gift slip from his sleeve, walked over and put it on the table next to Wei Zhongxian, and said: "The lower official has a little heart, not respect, please Wei Gong smile." ”

Wei Zhongxian opened the gift sheet and looked at it, this question was direct, and he simply sent eight thousand taels of silver with real money. Wei Zhongxian was in a very good mood for this harvest today, smiled from ear to ear, and said: "Zhang asked, why did you give me such a big gift for no reason?" ”

Zhang Wen calmed down, put aside the unfavorable emotions, bowed down and said: "The Donglin Party reverses black and white, cultivates party henchmen, and rewards and punishments are unknown. ”

At this time, Wei Jue came up to add tea, just now he got the benefits from Cao An, heard Zhang Wen's words, felt that it was useless, and whispered in front of Wei Zhongxian: "I heard that Zuo Guangdou of the Donglin Party used the hereditary title as a bargaining chip to win over Lord Zhang, but Lord Zhang did not agree, it can be seen that Lord Zhang is sincere towards us." ”

Wei Zhongxian looked at Zhang and said with a smile: "Don't be embarrassed to say, how many people outside call us eunuchs." Why don't you follow Donglin, you want to follow our family? ”

"The rumors outside are not credible, just like yesterday, a maid disappeared in the Xiaguan Mansion, and immediately there were people who claimed to be the maid's parents and went to the Xiaguan House to make trouble, which must have been instigated by the Donglin Party behind the scenes. Donglin has always seized every opportunity to put on the heads of those who oppose them. ”

Wei Zhongxian seemed to be very interested in this kind of gossip and trivial matter, and hurriedly asked, "What happened later?" ”

Zhang asked: "Later, the lower officials learned that the maid's parents died when she was a child, and where did her parents come from, so she went to Yingtianfu to report to the official." Lord Yin Ni of Ying Tianfu didn't know Xia Guan originally, but when he heard that Xia Guan was going to vote for Wei Gong, he helped disperse the troublemakers. ”

"Haha......"

Zhang Wen continued: "In public and private, the lower officials all admire Duke Wei from the bottom of their hearts. Yu Gong, the Donglin Party blindly fights the same party, forgets the emperor, and flaunts the righteousness, how can the righteousness come from the heart without loyalty? It is a great thing for the country and the people to be the only Duke of Wei, presiding over the overall situation and winning the hearts of the people......" Zhang Wen said this, how could he not think of anything that would benefit the country and the people, so he hurriedly turned to private matters, "Yu private, the emperor is on our side, no matter how Donglin jumps, the emperor has to make up his mind about major matters, there is no emperor in their eyes, and they can't jump for a few days." Xiaguan and Wei Gong are beneficial and harmless to the future, as long as Xiaguan has the opportunity to clean up those self-fattening and forgetful people, they can squeeze out all the oil and water they have collected......"

Zhang Wen took refuge in Wei Zhongxian, believing that in order to strengthen the cooperative and utilization relationship, it was necessary to say a mutually beneficial reason. This will already make the mutual benefits clear: one is his own benefit, that is, he wants Wei Zhongxian to protect himself and give power to the official; The second is the benefit of Wei Zhongxian: Zhang Wen got the silver, and naturally he will continue to pay homage.

Sure enough, after Wei Zhongxian heard it, his heart was very happy, and he remembered that Zhang Wen's first shot today was eight thousand taels of silver, but a person who was willing to pay for silver, he had to give him a chance to make money, which was the way to open source.

Wei Zhongxian patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Zhang asked, didn't there be a court meeting on the fifteenth, and our family will definitely speak for you." ”

Zhang Wen took the opportunity to take out the stack of testimony in his arms, handed it over, and said: "This is the testimony that Xia Guan got from the officers and soldiers of Liaodong, the battle of Suzi River Jun lost 60,000 divisions, and it was completely the responsibility of Jun Song's rash advance against the enemy, and Xia Guan did not intervene at all, and there is testimony as evidence." ”

Wei Zhongxian picked up the stack of papers, but unfortunately took it upside down. Now the supreme power of the empire is in the hands of two illiterate people, one Zhu Youxiao is okay, he knows a few words, and Wei Zhongxian is almost illiterate. Wei Zhongxian, who had a horse's face, glanced at the stack of papers, threw it aside, and said, "Our family will help you send this thing to Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and let him check it out, and it will definitely be useful." ”

Zhang Wen said again: "The credit for the battle of Qinghe Fort ......"

Zhang asked in his heart, Lao Tzu got a lot of credit for carrying his head, so it was taken up by Yuan Yingtai?

Wei Zhongxian said worriedly: "Our family can protect you from guilt, Donglin impeached you, but there is no literal evidence, as long as the emperor does not believe it, he will not be able to cure your crime; But the matter of the battle of Qinghe Fort...... The celebrant has received the backup manuscript of the Liaodong Governor Yamen, and the evidence is conclusive, at this time, it is a little difficult to put the credit on you, even the emperor can't help it. ”

Zhang asked: "This lower official has also heard about it, as long as Duke Wei says two good words in front of the emperor, let the lower official present the emperor in person, let the emperor understand the facts, and the lower official will not go through the fire in vain, and those meritorious generals in Liaodong should also be promoted." ”

"Cheng, you go down and wait, and when the emperor is happy, we will tell you about it. By the way, what kind of official do you like to do? ”

Zhang asked what he heard the meaning, "What position are you good at making money", and he hurriedly said: "I heard that the post of governor of Zhejiang is still vacant......

Wei Zhongxian thought about it, and he was going to Zhejiang, and he was sure that he was going to make money, so he immediately smiled and said: "Cui Chengxiu was just transferred to the military department not long ago, and the governors and governors of Zhejiang are all vacant, and there is really a shortage of people." Not long ago, the imperial court proposed to abolish the governor of Suzhou, Yamen, otherwise it could get a governor of Zhejiang who was bigger than the governor...... Yes! You are now a fourth-grade imperial history, even if the greatest credit for the battle of Qinghe Fort is his Yuan Yingtai, you have no merit and hard work, you can be promoted to two levels, hang the official title of the third-grade left deputy capital imperial history, and take up the post of governor of Zhejiang. ”

The governor of the governor is not a feudal official, but a Beijing official; The governor-general and governor were not customized, and the localities were sometimes withdrawn and sometimes replaced, and the Beijing officials controlled the military and government in name and strengthened the centralization of power.

Zhang Wen was overjoyed in his heart, and thanked him: "The lower officials thank Wei Gong for his kindness." ”

Wei Zhongxian said again: "You relax your heart, go back and wait for the good news, this matter is on our family, by the way, Sun Long, the eunuch of Zhejiang Town, has a good relationship with our family, and when the time comes, our family will send him a letter to ensure that you sit comfortably in that position." ”

Zhang Wen's heart was relieved when he heard this, and then he thanked Wei Zhongxian and went home.

Within two days, the court began to impeach Zhang Wen for various reasons, but in front of the emperor, it was Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs and the Hakka clan that could be said, and the impeachment did not play much role.

On February 12, Zhu Youxiao didn't know what to play, and he was a little tired of liking puppet shows recently, so he remembered Zhang Wen, so he issued an order to summon Zhang Wen into the palace to face the saint.

When Zhang Wen received the command, he immediately sighed: There are people around the emperor who are easy to do. He hurriedly dressed neatly, put on a brand-new poinsettia official robe, played a fan, and went to the Forbidden City in a sedan chair in a very high-profile manner.

Usually, when officials go to court or are summoned by the emperor, they enter through Dong'anmen. Zhang Wen was no exception this time, he took a sedan chair through Qipan Street, and soon arrived in front of Dong'an Gate, and then got off the sedan chair and walked over.

Dong'an Gate is seven three doors yellow glazed single eaves rest on the top of the mountain, on the flat earth, the three gate towers of the very classical style are located there in all directions, and the flat ground gives birth to a breath of hegemony. Zhang Wen entered through the side door and saw the Jade River, on which there was a white marble arch bridge "Wangen Bridge". The domineering and gorgeous Ming-style building, coupled with the river and the bridge, the mist in the early morning has not dissipated, and the whole is like a palace in the sky.

When Zhang Wen saw this, he thought that he was going to Zhejiang, and he was a little reluctant to leave Beijing. At that time, there is no place in the world where there is such a domineering atmosphere that makes people have such an open mind.

After crossing the Wang'en Bridge on the Jade River, there is another gatehouse in the west of the river, it is the three square gates of the beam type of the rest mountain, this is the Dong'anli Gate, because it is the entrance of the palace wall of the Forbidden City, it is also called the wall gate.

Zhang Wen walked to the door of the wall gate and was questioned by the sergeant of the Jingjun, who was summoned by the emperor. At this time, I saw a white-faced fat man walking to the door, it turned out to be the eunuch Liu Chao, and Liu Chao was the commander of the pure army. Liu Chao said: "Master Zhang, our family will wait for you for a while." ”

The two sergeants who stopped Zhang Wen got out of the way, Zhang Wen walked into the door, bowed, and when Liu Chao helped himself up, he stuffed a piece of yellow gold into Liu Chao's sleeve, which was very heavy.

"Huh...... Our family took Master Zhang to see the emperor. Liu Chao took Zhang Wen to the west, and there were two eunuchs who followed far behind. Liu Chao asked in a low voice: "Madame Saint asked you, are you going to Zhejiang to be an official?" ”

Zhang Wen was stunned in his heart, the Holy Lady knew so quickly?

In fact, Zhang Wen is also nostalgic for Jingshi, but he can't do anything in this place, so he can only take care of going to the party to fight infighting. Fortunately now, he defected to the eunuch party, and he was able to get the protection of the emperor and his cronies and eunuchs, nothing happened, Zhang Wen guessed that it should be the Donglin Party that shed blood; But if one day the emperor returns to heaven, it is time for the eunuch to be unlucky and fight for Donglin.

Zhang Wen wanted to change places, find a way out, a long-term plan, so he didn't want to stay in Beijing, and when he saw Liu Chao asking, he said: "Now my house is full of secret agents of the Donglin Party, and when I see the Holy Lady at this time, I am afraid that there will be hidden dangers; Zhejiang to Beijing, a boat journey, there is a chance to meet outside Beijing, maybe it is more stable. ”